Episodes

  • The Application: Tobyn Brooks

    The Application: Tobyn Brooks
    Jul 17 2024
    Episode 7 Tobyn Brooks Tobyn Brooks was 11 when he started taking drugs, within a couple of years he was a heroin user. He left school at 16 and worked as a drugs mule for many years. Now he’s the owner of the Figaro Shop, a specialist car restoration business, and he’s a graduate of the Oxford MBA. Tobyn tells Kathy about the moment – with his health ruined by addiction – when he had to decide between life and death. He explains why he chose life, how he embarked on the long road to recovery and why he’s convinced that entrepreneurship can - and should - make the world a better place. If you are affected by the issues discussed in this podcast, the following organisations offer help: Turning Point https://www.turning-point.co.uk/ Narcotics Anonymous https://ukna.org/ Featuring: Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Tobyn Brooks, owner and founder, https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobyn-brooks-7492642a/?originalSubdomain=uk
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    30 mins
  • The Application: Rebecca Weston

    The Application: Rebecca Weston
    Jul 9 2024
    Episode 6 - Rebecca Weston: We need to talk about nuclear. As the lead in the UK’s Ministry of Defence Warhead Group, overseeing the country’s nuclear deterrent, Dr Rebecca Weston is one of the most senior female leaders in the European nuclear industry. Rebecca is also a graduate of the Oxford Executive MBA, taking time out from a demanding job at the Sellafield nuclear site to complete the course. In this episode she chats to Kathy Harvey about how the daughter of French and history teachers plumped for physics and how that choice took her on a journey to top roles in the nuclear industry. She reflects on the challenges of leadership; what she says about her job at dinner parties; and the place of nuclear power in the UK’s energy mix. Plus, she considers whether anything’s changed for women in her field since she started out. “We still need to change the dial in terms of women in STEM”, she says. Spoiler alert: Skegness is not in Scotland. Featuring: Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Rebecca Weston - Director-General at Ministry of Defence https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-weston-1b52512b/
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    28 mins
  • The Application: James Hall

    The Application: James Hall
    Jul 3 2024
    Episode 5 - James Hall: The drive to entrepreneurship James Hall is an entrepreneur with a long track record of building successful businesses. He grew up in Detroit, Michigan and after dropping out of high school worked as a bricklayer, before he fell – in his words – into the insurance sector. His latest venture, Oka, offers insurance in the carbon credit market. James chats to Kathy about his belief in service to others, his views on leadership and the part his children played in pushing him back to college, a move which ultimately resulted in an Oxford Executive MBA. Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees at Saïd Business School - www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey James Hall, Founder and Executive Chair at Embedded Insurance, Inc. https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-hall-86b627b/
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    30 mins
  • The Application: Thabiso Foto

    The Application: Thabiso Foto
    Jun 26 2024
    Featuring: Episode 4 - Thabiso Foto: Taking the 1% chance Thabiso Foto is the Chief Financial Officer of Founders Factory Africa, which invests in early stage tech start ups across the African continent. It also has an interest in south-east Asia and the UK. Thabiso chats to Kathy Harvey about her early life growing up in a big family in a small town in Zimbabwe, the influence of her older siblings and what she’s learned about authority, leadership and the plus side of failure. Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Thabiso Foto, Chief Financial Officer Founders Factory Africa. https://www.linkedin.com/in/thabiso-foto-81ab5315/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2F&originalSubdomain=uk
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    32 mins
  • The Application: Patrick Grant

    The Application: Patrick Grant
    Jun 19 2024
    Episode 3 - Patrick Grant. Patrick Grant is a serial entrepreneur, who is probably best known in the UK as a judge on the popular TV show The Great British Sewing Bee. He is also a graduate of the first Oxford Executive MBA programme and actually put in the bid to buy his first business, Savile Row tailor Norton and Sons, when he was still at Oxford. Two decades and three ventures later Patrick talks to Kathy Harvey about his love of clothes, his distaste for fast fashion and his newest venture, Community Clothing, which spearheads his crusade to transform the way we buy clothes. The Great British Sewing Bee theme music by kind permission of its composer Ian Livingstone. Featuring: Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Patrick Grant, Entrepreneur and Designer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Grant_(designer)
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    29 mins
  • The Application: Cully Cavness

    The Application: Cully Cavness
    Jun 12 2024
    Episode 2 - Cully Cavness Cully talks to Kathy Harvey about growing up in an oil and gas family and the moment he realised he wanted to take his career in energy in a more climate-friendly direction. He discusses the company’s new focus on AI and reflects on the balance between work, extreme sport and family life – which, since his conversation with Kathy, has been blessed with the safe arrival of his second child. Featuring: Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Cully Cavness, Co-Founder, President and COO at Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccavness/
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    28 mins
  • The Application: Tim Foster

    The Application: Tim Foster
    May 30 2024
    Episode 1 - Tim Foster: Leadership and the team As a member of the coxless four that rowed to victory in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Tim Foster MBE has reached heights that most of us can only dream of. He talks to Kathy Harvey about what it takes to play your part in a tightly disciplined team of elite athletes. reflecting on the tension between competing and collaborating. After taking Olympic gold, Tim honed his leadership skills as coach to the Swiss national rowing team; these days he is a leadership coach and Head of Performance for the UK Football League Managers’ Association. 'I didn’t just want to be a rower' he says. He discusses those transitions with Kathy and how the executive MBA broadened his horizons and showed him he had choices. And he reveals that even after years of early starts, getting out of bed in the morning is still a challenge! Featuring: Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean MBA and Executive Degrees Saïd Business School - https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/kathy-harvey Tim Foster MBE, Executive Coach - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timfostermbe/
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    29 mins
  • The Application - Series trailer

    The Application - Series trailer
    May 30 2024
    Welcome to The Application, the podcast series from Saïd Business School, featuring some of the extraordinary personalities who were offered a place on the Executive MBA here at Oxford University's Saïd Business School. Presented by Kathy Harvey, Associate Dean. https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/programmes/mbas/oxford-executive-mba
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    2 mins